Hot off tHe Grill

Toronto’s Mariposa Cruises Kicks off 31st Season With Elevated Cuisine Wrapping up a $500

million interior renovation

of its Northern Spirit cruise

ship, Mariposa Cruises has

welcomed new executive

chef Andrew Capone

(formerly of The Drake,

Thuet, Harbord Room and

others) for its 31st season.

Chef Capone has unveiled

a new, elevated dining

experience across Mariposa Cruises entire fleet of six vessels. The

public cruises — which include a Sunset Dinner Cruise, Lunch Cruise,

Weekend Brunch Cruise, Sip & Sail Cocktail Cruise and more — are

opportunities for locals and visitors alike to experience Toronto’s

beautiful island archipelago, harbour and skyline in a new and

exciting way. Mariposa Cruises also offers public sightseeing cruises

as well as private charters. www.mariposacruises.com

Turkish Airlines Upgrades Lounge in IstanbulTurkish Airlines

recently completed

sweeping upgrades

to its Istanbul Lounge

at Istanbul Ataturk

Airport, geographically

located at the meeting

of Europe and Asia.

It also introduced an

enhanced gourmet dining experience featuring a wide variety of

international and Turkish cuisines with dishes such as pide (Turkish

pizza), köfte (meatballs), pasta/tortellini, Chinese noodles, and

a confectionery pastry shop with fresh juices, soft drinks and

alcoholic beverages. Decorated with porticos, a fascinating decor

element of both Ottoman and Seljukian architecture, the Istanbul

Lounge reflects Turkey’s rich cultural heritage and even features

a garden terrace graced by 150-year-old olive trees. In addition

to its acclaimed lounge in Istanbul, Turkish Airlines has 18 lounges

situated in capitals such as Moscow, Nairobi and Washington, DC.

www.turkishairlines.com

Riu Palace Zanzibar OpensAn elegant new hotel has opened on Africa’s eastern coast.

Set oceanfront on Nungwi Beach on the secluded northern

tip of the island of Unguja, the Riu Palace Zanzibar offers

a luxurious setting for an unforgettable vacation. The

fourth Riu hotel in Africa, joining two in Mauritius and

another in Sri Lanka, the Riu Palace Zanzibar features 102

rooms as well as two bars and three restaurants featuring

international and local cuisine drawn from Persian, Arabic,

Muslim, Portuguese and African influences. The Riu

Palace Zanzibar is conveniently located near Abeid Amani

Karume International Airport, Serengeti National Park on

Tanzania’s mainland and Stone Town, a protected UNESCO

World Heritage Site. www.riu.com

8 taste& travel international july–september 2018

DISPAtCHES

>>> what’S new in the world of Culinary travel

New Vegan Cafe to Open at Half Moon JamaicaVegan cuisine will be a highlight of a $75 million USD enhancement of Half

Moon resort scheduled for completion in November 2018. Just in time to celebrate

its 65th anniversary in 2019, the transformative additions to the 400-acre destination

resort will include an elegant new entry and Great House, 57 new luxury guest rooms

and suites, an expanded beachfront with natural swimming cove, an adults-only

swimming pool (in addition to its 50+ private, semi-private and guest pools), two

restaurants as well as the Marketplace  & Café offering takeaway snacks and

local crafts. The three bars include Lester’s Bar, featuring a mural by renowned artist

Michael Lester, whose work can also be seen at the National Gallery of Jamaica.

Half Moon’s new vegan café will be located at the Fern Tree Spa, set among new

pedestrian pathways through the landscaped tropical gardens. By Heather Koroluk www.halfmoon.com

Asian Flavours Shine in MaineAlthough fresh lobster is still a top reason

to visit Maine, there’s more to this coastal

state’s food scene than crustaceans.

The past few years have witnessed an

explosion of dynamic restaurants serving

authentic Asian food. Culinary explorers

should start in the border town of Kittery

at Anju, a traditional Japanese noodle bar

featuring ramen and pork buns. Next up

is Miyake in Portland, long considered to

be the best sushi restaurant in the state,

with fish plucked fresh from Maine waters

or flown in from Japan. Up in Brunswick,

Tao Yuan is where to find Asian street food

and incredible tastes of Korea, Japan and

China, as well as a nightly chef’s tasting

menu. At Suzuki’s Sushi in Rockland, chef-

owner Keiko Suzuki Steinberger offers up

extraordinary sushi. Finally, at Long Grain

in Camden, visitors can expect creatively

paired food with tastes of Thailand,

Vietnam, Japan and beyond. www.visitmaine.com

In My Kitchen Brings Cultural Cooking Classes to BC In BC’s newest food

adventure, skilled home

cooks from diverse

ethnic backgrounds are

welcoming diners into

their homes for a

communal, cross-cultural

cooking experience. Each

of the In My Kitchen

dining experiences is an

immersive culinary adventure where diners learn family recipes, engage in hands-on

cooking instruction and share a multi-course meal in the host cook’s home. The four

cultural themes offered in individual homes in Vancouver and Surrey are Traditional

Middle Eastern Family Meal with Suha, Spanish Paella and Olive Oil Tasting with Luise,

Farm to Table Swiss Family Favourites with Celine, and Exploring Japanese Flavours

with Naomi. All instructors have completed training at British Columbia’s FOODSAFE

training program. www.inmykitchen.ca

9july–september 2018 taste& travel international

DISPAtCHES

Hot off tHe Grill

CURATED BY miChele peterSon

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Raffles Luxury Arrives in PolandAccorHotels has announced

the opening of the Raffles

Europejski Warsaw in Poland.

Bringing over 160 years of

history and heritage to the

culturally rich Raffles Hotels

& Resorts brand, this fully

restored Polish icon joins

Paris and Istanbul as the third

European destination where the

inimitable Raffles experience

can be found. The hotel pays

homage to the nation’s artistic

renaissance with 106 rooms and

suites that are classically stylish,

allowing guests to understand the soul of Poland by immersing themselves in

the art, gastronomy and history surrounding them. Culinary options include the

Europejski Grill, Long Bar, Humidor, and Lourse Warszawa Patisserie.The hotel’s

Raffles Spa will be one of the biggest and most luxurious in Warsaw.

By Damian March

www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-A7W6-raffles-europejski-warsaw/index.shtml

Cooking Classes for Kids in Oaxaca With its varied cuisine including several varieties of

moles, chapulines (grasshoppers), chocolate, cheese

and more, Mexico’s state of Oaxaca is a well-known

destination for food enthusiasts. While cooking

classes for adults abound in Oaxaca City, it’s now

possible for children to enjoy an introduction to

regional Mexican cuisine during their beach vacation.

The Barceló Huatulco, an all-inclusive resort set on the

Bay of Tangolunda, has launched cooking classes for

kids as part of its all-inclusive activity program. These

hands-on classes teach children how to make snacks

such as salsas, guacamole and tlayudas, a Oaxacan

tortilla pizza. Regional dishes are also available within

the Barceló Huatulco’s six restaurants which include

two buffet and four à la carte restaurants. Another

kid-friendly feature? The Barceló Huatulco is the only

hotel in Huatulco with a water park. www.barcelo.com

UnTour Food Tours Expands in ChinaEat (and drink) like a local with one of UnTour’s new culinary walking tours.

UnTour Food Tours has been introducing visitors to China’s hidden food scene

since 2010 and now offer tours in the cities of Shanghai, Chengdu, Beijing and

Hong Kong. In addition to their popular Night Eats Tours, Street Eats Breakfast

Tours and Hands-on Dumpling Eats classes, they’ve just launched a Shanghai

Brewery Tour and Pub Crawl. In partnership with Boxing Cat Brewery, this

exploration of Shanghai’s pub scene includes an opportunity to sample a range

of beers at four locations, learn about the brewing process, dive into Shanghai’s

drink history and sample local snacks at a dumpling shop. Private tours are also

available. www.untourfoodtours.com

10 taste& travel international july–september 2018

DISPAtCHES Hot off tHe Grill U

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NZ Restaurant Offers Maori Language LessonsPopular Christchurch, New Zealand

seafood restaurant Fush has introduced

free Maori language classes on Monday

nights and the first event attracted over

600 people. Expecting about a dozen

students, the team at Fush had to find

a bigger venue, so they booked out a

local auditorium and couldn’t believe

the turnout. Fush is a whanau (family)

owned business that opened in 2016 with

the goal to sell the perfect fish and chips.

Manaakitanga (the way in which you

show hospitality towards your guests) is

important to co-owner Anton Matthews

and his team so everyone is welcomed

like one of the family. The restaurant

features a menu in both English and

Maori and table talkers with basic Maori

words to encourage diners to speak

Maori to each other while they wait for

food. That’s kai (food) with a side of

aroha (love) in Aotearoa (Land of the

Long White Cloud). www.eatatfush.com

Morocco’s Imperial Cities with the Fastest Train in Africa  Specialist operator Planet Rail has introduced a two-week

adventure to Morocco’s Imperial Cities, taking advantage of the

country’s new super-fast LGV rail service, which travels between

Casablanca and Tangier at speeds of over 320 kmph. Departing

direct from London’s St Pancras station, after nights spent in

Barcelona and Cordoba, passengers board the short ferry from

Tarifa to Tangier, a charming port city where guests have two nights

to explore the medina, whitewashed colonial houses and Great

Mosque. Two nights are then spent in both Rabat and Casablanca,

travelling along the Atlantic coast on the new high-speed line.

Rabat, Morocco’s capital, has influences of the city’s Roman,

Moorish and Spanish occupiers, while Casablanca boasts a superb

art deco new town that sits alongside the bustling Mohammed V

Square with its local traders and street performers. The holiday

ends with five nights in Marrakech, Morocco’s most enigmatic city

with its tangled souks, views of the distant Atlas Mountains and

famous Koutoubia Mosque. By Damian March www.planetrail.us

11july–september 2018 taste& travel international

DISPAtCHESHot off tHe Grill

miChele peterSon is an award-winning food and travel writer who divides her time between Mexico and Canada. She can be reached via www.michelepeterson.com

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